Vestas V136 Rotor: Outer-Blade-Region Airfoil Design and Wind Tunnel Testing

摘要

The design of a new wind turbine blade is a combination of different expertise and different ingredients aiming to achieve the best technical compromise for the best performance. Aerodynamics is heavily involved in this process and airfoils are a powerful ingredient to obtain high performance, while contributing in limiting relevant risks for the design. The present work focuses on the impact of new airfoils on the rotor performance of a modern wind turbine. The novel Vestas V136 rotor is used as case study to investigate the role of the outer-blade's airfoils to achieve a competitive and robust product. Two new airfoils have been developed considering requirements tailored on V136 needs. The results of these designs are compared and discussed, not only in terms of airfoil performance but also including the beneficial effects on the rotor design. They show how crucial is the selection of the design criteria to gain a sound performance and a reliable product. The work is completed by the results of the wind tunnel tests validation.